G'day Oneal, there is a fair bit of cross over between the Nano and MD. At almost the same volume the Nano catches waves easier and has that instant speed everyone talks about so I'm catching a lot more waves. Would I sell the MD? No, not at this stage because I have had so many good surfs on it but if someone made me choose between the two - I'd have to say the Nano
I'm pretty happy with the quiver now - 5'5" Baked Potato, 5'9" Nano and 6'2" MD

Comment

Goanna, I have read how much you liked the el fuego. How does your nano compare to the el fuego (paddling, wave catching, upper and lower wave range)? Which board do you think would be more fun in the type of waves you were surfing in the video with your el fuego? That video almost made me order an el fuego, then the nano showed up. Thanks for your help.

G’day Windswell - Ah yes now that is one mouth watering quiver right there.aurfalien is in the best position, he has the ELF already and if he adds the Nano then he is laughing!When reading this keep in mind that I had the 6’1” Elf and it was around 36 litres in volume.Paddling – No issues at all like I said, plenty of volumeWave catching - it caught waves just as easily, maybe slightly better. You may not have the same result if the volume is lower for your weight.Upper and lower wave range – for the Elf 1ft with push up to 5ft full type waves. When it got sucky the wide flat nose needed to be nursed a bit but again this was due to the extra float!Nano – TBA as I’ve only had two surfs on it.Which board for waves in that video? – You could go with either on that wave. The Elf for nice drawn out top to bottom carves and the Nano for closer to the pocket. This depends on how you like to surf.That video shows the smaller waves on that day. It’s towards the end of the surf when I paddled wider because I was too fatigued to bother hassling for the sets anymore. For the sets I think the Nano would’ve taken less nursing.Man it’s a tricky choice for you. On one hand you have the magic of the Nano but it's a “performance” board - I feel the Elf will cover more “Average” conditions more often and let’s face it – there are more average days than exceptional days.

I’ll also add that the foot placement was nowhere near as critical on the Elf as it is on the Nano – Just plant and go!Good luck! I hope this helps.

Comment

Seems that everyone is frothing over the Nano, but I have struggled a little bit with it so far. Might be that the waves have been crap and I need to take it out some proper waves.

Everyone is saying that it is such a neutral board, loose and super easy to surf. However, I feel that it is kind of stiff and it sometimes surfs itself. It is super fast down the line, but feels like it is on tracks while doing roundhouses. My upper body is going one way and the board is going the other way. The size is a 5'9 and I have tried with fcs Performance and am2 fins Large fins since I am in the 200lbs range.

Does it need to be surfed more of the back foot? Any suggestions?

Comment

Norberg, don't give up just yet.
I am virtually the same stats as you riding the same size Nano.
I had Rusty Blackstix - also a large fin and it did exactly as you are describing
then I put in a set of WCT and the problem was solved straight away.

I still want to try some other fins spoken about here on the forum but these are doing the job ATM.
still haven't had great waves yet either but have seen some glimpses of its potential.

Well, I'm more of the "dump the chump" logic. So if a board doesn't click, sell and get something else. The nice thing about FW is that they retain resale value, I've sold 3 or so boards that didn't exactly feel perfect. However I'd stay with the brand for a few simple reasons;

1) Amazing line up of shapers and shapes.
2) There technology.
3) FW support, mainly Chris and Josh.
4) This forum which is simply an amazing resource.

Comment

Yeah, I see what you mean. Could get the vg to work and sold that one pretty fast. However, don't think I'll sell this one before I have tried it in proper waves. Probably need to adjust foot placements and fins.

Comment

Hi Norberg, I have been finding my 5'8 Nano exactly the same. I got mine back in April and the swell pretty much dropped off here for months (I live at Croyde in England) and I took it in a few times but the waves weren't good enough. On the odd occasion that the waves were a little punchier I was struggling to get the best out of the board and got increasingly frustrated (I know that I surf off my front foot a lot and needed waves with more open faces so I had the time to try and adjust my stance). I also tried different fins, gradually getting smaller to try and loosen it up more. I have just been to france and Spain for amonth and surfed lots of close out beach breaks, getting the odd glimpse of what the board could do, but again struggling to get my stance right as most were really short sections, the board did feel great paddling around and super stable taking off. On Tuesday night I surfed Croyde @ 4ft with solid 5ft sets, long walls and put my stretch quad fins in.....what a transformation, the nano was fantastic in steep big drops, felt really stable and super loose but held on everything. At last I was seeing what everyone else seemed to see from the board, it is amazingly easy to climb back over whitewater as sections come down even on decent sized waves. I surfed it the next morning in smaller 2-4ft clean waves and had a couple of longer ones where I was able to get loads of turns in which felt effortless, with the board almost squirting its way through and out of them. I must have sorted out my stance which was easy to do in the punchy waves and I am looking forward to solid swell which should be arriving tonight to carry on building on this. I may even try a knubster to see how it works with the quad set (which was how I had them set up on a 6'0 short board). I was really worried that I had gone too big with the 5'8 (76kg, 5'9 £ 47yrs) and I could surf smaller, but it is very busy in the water here and normally needs a lot of paddling around to move around peaks, but it certainly seems to be working out now & just makes me desperate to keep getting in on it to get more out of it. Good luck with yours, if it's not too late then stick with it..if I can sort it anyone can! Cheers, Garry

Comment

Hey Norberg, I've had similar experiences with the Nano but it is becoming the best board I've surfed. I have a 5’9 too and my other board is a 5’10 PN (so I'm used to the back foot stance). I’m ~175 pounds but getting older so I like the extra volume. I've had about 6 surfs on it now. The first couple times I ended up switching back to my other board before the session was over. The Nano felt too stiff. Paddled fine, takeoffs were no problem and the board would fly but I felt disconnected. I switched fins from FG-5 to k2.1 and it felt a little better. Had a couple good surfs but had a hard time staying in the pocket.

I picked up a deviant fin off eBay and stuck it in the Nano this morning. Loosened the board up more than with the K2.1 center. Not sure if it was psychological but I felt more confident wrapping full cutbacks and pivoting to drive the board up the face. It might have helped that the swell was a solid 2 – 3 foot overhead. It may be a gimmick but I sure had fun and don’t plan on taking it out. Could be the fins or it could be that I'm still feeling out the board but it is starting to click. I’ll stick with my PotatoNator for anything under shoulder high or mushy but the Nano will be my go to board for better surf.

Comment

I would say from experience that you might have gone a bit big. I'm 155 and ride a 5'5" Nano 42 years old. I do have a 5'6" Nano I only use when there is a lot of water moving and the waves are shifty ( needing a bit more paddling speed).One inch in length on the nano makes a big difference and there is a 2 litter drop from a 5'9" to a 5'8. I would say a 5"8" would have been a better choice for your weight and possibility the 5'7" base on how responsive you want the board to be. But since I don't know you this is just a guess.

I have been riding my Nanos most days and have over 100 surfs on them at this point. Since you likely are not going to buy a second Nano I would try this out to loosen up the board a bit for you.

For a fin rec I would go stay away from any plastic fins no matter the template. Both boards like a "stiff" up right template. Fins I use are the FCS 2 AM2 med and the Julian Wilson med fins. If you want to loosen up the Nano run it as a quad rather than a thruster that is the set up I used as the waves get fat and soft or if they are around waist high.

Let me know how you like the quad set up I would be interested in your feed back.

Best,
Anthony

Comment

Hi guys Actually sold the board a couple of days ago. Last surf I went back to my unibrow and I felt like I could actually surf and not look like a total kook. I'm surfing the board, not the board surfing me, like I felt with the nano. A little less speed, but way more predictable and loose. The nano kind of had its own mind where I just had to hang on for the ride. guess it just wasn't a board for me. Annoying, since it just sounds like a killer board Cheers,

Comment

I think you should have simply tried it with smaller fins. The board is magic for me, and I ride similar conditions. I got a 5'4 and put in medium fins, felt a bit like how you described it. I simply put in a smaller back fin and voila... board now responds.
Seriously, the board skates like fish, holds like a step up and reacts like a performance shortboard. It's the first magic board I've had in years

I’ve had the size argument in my head many times but I’m happier with more foam. As a once a week, 52 year old surfer with a couple bad disks in my neck,the extra liter or 2 makes the performance trade off worth it. Giving this setup another go tomorrow morning in chest high conditions.